Joe Root sustained two blows to his hands at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Tuesday as England’s batsmen tuned up for round two of their battle with Shannon Gabriel and his fellow West Indies quicks.
It was the more wily Kemar Roach who filleted England’s top order during their 77 all out in Barbados, before Roston Chase’s surprise eight‑wicket haul in the second innings. But Gabriel, the 6ft 3in Trinidadian, produced the most hostile bursts and, with five wickets against Bangladesh on this ground last year, he could be the threat for the second Test that starts on Thursday.
Root in particular was roughed up by Gabriel during what was the fourth and final day in Bridgetown, surviving a dismissal off a no-ball when a bouncer tangled him up and flew off the glove into the slips. The England captain is not a batsman who ducks and sways much – a long-standing back problem may be at play – and he has been working hard since.
During practice on Tuesday – as the groundstaff worked on a green-tinged pitch in the middle two days out – Root had a couple of nets, first facing a number of short balls from the side-arm (dog-ball thrower) of England’s batting coach, Mark Ramprakash. But it was in his second of the morning that he sustained the two injury scares.
Side-arm throwdowns are administered by most members of the management setup and it was the team analyst, Rupert Lewis, who first caught him on the left hand with a ball that reared up. Moments later Root was having his right thumb strapped by the team doctor, Gurj Bhogal, with the fitness coach, Phil Scott, the man to strike.
Root then switched ends of what was a capricious far lane, taking balls from the shoulder of Trevor Bayliss and appeared in some discomfort, taking his hand off the bat and shaking it at times. He later said all was fine and no hospital trip followed.
He was not the only batsman working on the short ball. The one concrete pitch in the nets was soaked with water towards the end of the session, with Ben Stokes skimming down a succession of soft balls aimed at Jos Buttler’s head, to be either evaded or attacked. Buttler was Roach’s fifth victim in the first-innings collapse last week, fending behind a snorting delivery from the 5ft 8in right-armer.
Rory Burns, who top-scored for England in the first Test with 84 in the second innings, said: “It’s obviously different to county cricket. You don’t have too many 90mph bowlers floating around. At the same time, you have come across guys that bowl that speed and have dealt with it in the past. It was just a reminder that it is quick and it can be hostile at times.
“[Gabriel is] the quickest out of their four. It can be uncomfortable. He’s actually quite skilful and doesn’t give you that many balls to hit. You want to wear him down, keep him bowling, and you want them to use him as a sort of enforcer, the one pushing their attack and trying to make it uncomfortable.
“Sometimes you’ve got to absorb that pressure and counteract it. When you did that, he did bowl bad balls and you could put them away. But it’s about being able to absorb a lot of pressure.”
England could face another 90mph bowler if the raw but rated Oshane Thomas takes the place of Alzarrri Joseph, whose fitness is being monitored during his comeback from injury. But it is the makeup of the touring XI that is most up for debate going into a must-win Test.
Burns expects his fellow opener Keaton Jennings to retain his place – Joe Denly waits in the wings and offers leg-spin also – while Stuart Broad may return in place of Adil Rashid. Chris Woakes, who could have threatened Sam Curran for his place, worked on fitness only but Mark Wood’s pace impressed. If the pitch suddenly looks like a turner, Jack Leach may enter their thoughts.
